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Ruby
Montana owned the Pinto Pony in Seattle before
closing the shop and moving to Palm Springs,
California. She now owns the 7-room Coral Sands
Inn built in 1952.
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PALM SPRINGS, Calif. —
Ruby Montana steers her VW convertible past the former
homes of Liberace, Dinah Shore and Sammy Davis Jr., and I
start to panic.
The idea of doing
California's Palm Springs on a budget seems a bit like
traveling to the French Riviera in search of a Motel 6.
"There's money
here," she told me earlier as we lunched at Tyler's,
a walk-up burger palace in a converted bus depot. And it's
not all coming from Southern California.
Montana, 62, sold her
cowgirl-inspired Pinto Pony boutique in Seattle's Belltown
neighborhood nine years ago. She now owns the seven-room
Coral Sands Inn in the elegant Las Palmas neighborhood.
The desert city's appeal can be summed up in three words,
she says.
"Sun. No bugs."
Add retro architecture,
miles of hiking trails, hot-springs resorts and vintage
shopping and it's easy to see why a new group of 20- and
30-somethings, young families and gay couples have adopted
Palm Springs as their getaway too.
Enter a sagging economy,
and what was once viewed as a destination for the rich and
famous has become a budget-friendly getaway for the rest
of us.
The best deals surface in
summer, when temperatures reach into the 100s compared
with 70s-80s in winter. But things are different this
year.
Empty store fronts along
the main drag, Palm Canyon Drive, are one clue that
everyone's scrambling for business even as the peak winter
season approaches.
Plenty of small motels such
as Montana's cupcake-pink Coral Sands, built in 1952 as a
retreat for the Los Angeles Rams, offer rooms for under
$150 a night.
There's even a Motel 6, but
chances for a star sighting are greater next door at the
Ace Hotel & Swim Club, the hip-hotel-of the-moment,
where a friend of mine recently checked in behind Drew
Barrymore.
The minimalist decor at the
Ace — vintage furniture and walls covered in bleached
canvas for a "bohemian, camping feel" —
disguises what was a 1965 Westward Ho cinderblock motel.
Next door is a former Denny's restaurant, now the King's
Highway, serving French press coffee and couscous salads
in booths recovered in saddle leather.
"If the production
crew from the movie "Easy Rider" came to Palm
Springs and took over this hotel, this is what they would
do," says Alex Calderwood who helped start the Ace
chain in Seattle in 1999. Communal patios with fireplaces,
a dog park, two pools open until 3 a.m. and a snow-cone
bar were added for guests whom Calderwood describes as
"settling down, but still kind of in tune with what
inspired them in their 20s."
My second-floor double was
comfortable and appointed with a cowhide rug and denim
headboard, but a $20-per-night resort fee tacked onto the
$99 price made it feel like less of a value than I first
thought.
Given the Ace's location
two miles from the center of downtown, I was happy to find
a bus stop across the street and the hotel's supply of
free vintage-style bikes, which I used to get around
everywhere without a car.
For the hip, young and
budget-minded, happy hour is the new early-bird special.
Hungry after a
late-afternoon flight, I pedaled downtown along Palm
Canyon Drive, riding over bronze stars on the sidewalk
engraved with the names of celebrities.
Friends met me at Matchbox
Vintage Pizza Bistro (www.matchboxpalmsprings.com) on
Mercado Plaza, where seats on a breezy second-floor
balcony overlook a bronze statue of singer and former Palm
Springs Mayor Sonny Bono. A marimba band was setting up as
we shared $6 dollar pizzas and salads and $2 draft beers.
More elegant was the 6-7:30
p.m. cocktail hour at Copley's Blue Bar & Lounge in
the former Cary Grant estate (www.copleyspalmsprings.com)
a few blocks north in what the locals call uptown.
"Love the buzz,"
said Montana, who visits regularly for the $5 Bombay
martinis and $15 Kobe burger blue plate specials.
I loved her dessert tip: a
free orange buttercream at See's Candy.
Swing an extra vacation day
and arrive on a Thursday for some of Palm Spring's best
budget finds.
Admission to the Palm
Springs Art Museum (www.psmuseum.org) is free from 4-8
p.m. Check out the towering Chihuly and smaller works by
Seattle glass artists Ginny Ruffner and Joey Kirkpatrick
and Flora Mace.
Thursday night is also
Villagefest (www.palmspringsvillagefest.com), a California
version of an Asian night market. Several blocks along
Palm Canyon Drive close to traffic starting at 7 p.m. Make
dinner a $7 gyro and stroll among the vendors hawking
green-apple shave ice, henna tattoos and silver toe rings.
Best spot for a late-night
snack: The Amigo Room bar at the Ace. Thursdays are Taco
& Tequila Night. Tacos are $1.50-$2.50 and margaritas
are $5 until 11 p.m.
At 487 feet above sea
level, Palm Springs is surrounded by mountains and high
desert. Joshua Tree National Park is a popular day trip,
but those without the time or a car will find plenty of
the outdoors at their doorstep.
Three dollars buys access
to the Moorten Botanical Gardens on the estate of Patricia
and Chester Moorten, landscape designers for Frank Sinatra.
Visitors can spend a quiet hour wandering through an
outdoor museum of more than 3,000 types of desert cactus
and plants.
Palm Springs' first
residents were the ancestors of today's Agua Caliente
tribe of Cahuilla Indians. Ranger-led tours are free at
Tahquitz Canyon (www.tahquitzcanyon.com) on the tribal
reservation a mile south of downtown.
Given the heat and my own
bias for forest paths over rocky canyons, I preferred the
trails in Mount San Jacinto State Park wilderness area
above the visitors center.
A 12-minute ride via aerial
tramway (www.pstramway.com) takes passengers on a scenic
ride from the desert to an alpine forest where it's 40
degrees cooler than it is in town. Join a free ranger walk
or rent cross-country skis in winter. Ticket prices
($22.95 for adults, $15.95 for children) drop by $3 after
3 p.m.
Discounts on Gucci and
Prada await at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets 20 miles
west of town, but the best buys are in Palm Springs'
thrift and consignment stores. Many are stocked with
treasures cast away by wealthy second and third
homeowners.
Montana spent years
gathering up vintage salt and pepper shakers, lunchboxes
and cowhand collectibles for her Belltown store. What
wasn't sold when she closed ended up at the Coral Sands.
Among her favorite stores
is Revivals (www.desertaidsproject.org), with two shops in
a strip mall at 611 South Palm Canyon Dr. Proceeds go to
the Desert AIDS Project.
Too bad my baby-blue
Electra Cruiser bike didn't have a basket. Otherwise I
would be mixing drinks in a vintage glass martini set I
spotted in a shoebox for $8.
———
IF YOU GO
WHERE: Palm Springs is 110
miles southeast of Los Angeles in Southern California's
Coachella Valley.
LODGING: For discounted
hotel rates, see www.palmsprings.com and the "hot
deals" page at www.palm-springs.org, the tourism
bureau's Web site. Three suggestions:
--The Ace Hotel & Swim
Club, 701 E. Palm Canyon Dr., 180 rooms. October-December
rates for simple doubles start at $99 weekdays, $149
weekends, plus a $20-per-night resort fee. January-March
rates start at $150 weekdays, $199 weekends. Call
760-325-9900 or see www.acehotel.com/palmsprings.
--The Coral Sands Inn, 210
West Stevens. Seven themed rooms (think Roy Rogers and
Liberace), some with kitchens. Kidney-shaped pool. Winter
rates: $139-$175. Call 866-820-8302or see
www.coralsandspalmsprings.com.
--Palm Springs Travel
Lodge, 333 E. Palm Canyon Dr., 160 rooms. A few blocks
from the Ace, this is a great value, especially for
families. Newly renovated rooms. Two pools. Breakfast
included. Rates vary according to the date, but a search
on the Web site showed rooms available for as low as $48
November midweek and $75-$90 for December and January
dates. Call 760-327-1211 or see www.palmcanyonhotel.com.
GETTING AROUND: Much of
what there is to see and do in Palm Springs and the
surrounding desert cities can be covered on foot, by bike
or bus. Bus info at SunLine Transit, 760-343-3451, or
www.sunline.org. Big Wheel Tours rents bikes starting at
$30 per day. Call 760-802-2236 or see www.bwbtours.com.
MORE INFORMATION: See
www.palm-springs.org or call the Palm Springs Bureau of
Tourism at 800-927-7256. Suggestions for viewing
architecture, day trips, dining etc. at www.bestofps.com.
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